I Became a Raid Boss
Chapter 206

“This weather is really impossible to predict.”

It had been chilly recently, so he dressed thicker than usual, but now it was so humid that sweat was trickling down his face.

He rolled up his sleeves and took off his outerwear, draping it over his arm, but the heat still wouldn’t subside.

In the end, the man gave up trying to shake off the heat and simply accepted it.

‘What can you do if you don’t accept it? What are you even capable of doing?’

As if mocking him, the sunlight bore down fiercely on the man’s head.

Sweat made his clothes cling uncomfortably to his back.

The sticky fabric against his skin was highly unpleasant, but stripping in the middle of the street in broad daylight was obviously out of the question.

Not that he’d do it at night, either.

Though he always carried an ambition to raise his public profile, that wasn’t exactly the kind of fame he wanted.

“I should’ve just driven here.”

‘It’s not that far, so I figured I’d walk and get some exercise. When else would I exercise?’

The man remembered the advice his doctor had given him during his last health checkup: get some exercise.

He knew full well that walking a little today wasn’t the kind of “exercise” the doctor had meant, but…

Still, wasn’t it better than doing nothing at all?

A tiny pang of guilt eased by the bare minimum effort—that was all it was.

And so, full of resolve, he had left the house. But now he bitterly regretted his earlier choice.

“I’m seriously dying out here…”

If it had been the peak of summer, he wouldn’t have even bothered with the promise and would’ve turned back without a second thought.

“But why am I the one suffering when they’re the one who forgot the promise?”

…Something felt off.

The man furrowed his brow at the sudden thought.

As the saying goes, there’s one person making the mess and another cleaning it up.

Wasn’t this exactly that situation?

Why hadn’t this thought occurred to him earlier?

“…Haaaah. So tired.”

Why, you ask? Because he hadn’t slept properly.

The man muttered to himself, yawning so wide his mouth threatened to split.

The recommended sleep time for an adult is roughly 8 hours.

But today, he hadn’t even managed half of that.

It was only natural his brain wasn’t functioning properly.

His lack of sleep had also contributed to his decision not to drive.

Driving in a groggy state was a sure way to cause an accident.

“I should’ve just taken a taxi.”

But it was already too far to bother hailing a cab.

Paying for a taxi for what amounted to a 5-minute walk felt like a waste of money.

From his perspective, that would be nothing short of frivolous spending.

Some might argue that someone earning as much as he did didn’t need to be so frugal.

But money, after all, belongs to the person spending it.

So he had no intention of convincing those people otherwise.

“…Phew. Finally here.”

Half-formed thoughts and a blank mind.

Lost in such musings, the man finally arrived at his destination.

After his doctor’s advice to exercise and the sight of his bulging belly in the mirror while showering, he had been struck with a sense of urgency.

He needed to work out.

With that resolve, he had asked the most physically adept person he knew for help.

That’s how he came to know this place—the gym standing in front of him.

As an aside, the man who had ambitiously declared his intention to exercise had abandoned his fitness dream in just three days.

“Building a gym just to exercise… Seriously.”

Even in hindsight, it felt utterly insane.

Wearing a thoroughly exhausted expression, the man approached the gym.

Since there was no broadcast scheduled and he wasn’t answering his phone, it was highly likely that the person he was looking for was here.

Armed with this knowledge, the man had come to this place.

To drag out the combat maniac who had locked themselves away in the gym, forgetting all about their promise.

“Are you in there?”

He was certain they were inside.

Even so, the man pressed his ear to the door.

“…In the movies, they always sense movement this way.”

Of course, movies were just movies.

Awkwardly pulling his ear away, the man knocked on the gym door.

Thud, thud!

The knock was a little heavier than usual, producing a louder sound than a typical knock.

“…Why isn’t there a response?”

The man frowned again at the lack of reaction.

Could it be… no one’s here?

…That shouldn’t be possible.

The man, who was about to knock on the door again, realized that the door had slightly opened from his earlier knock.

‘What’s this? They didn’t lock the door?’

Well, it wasn’t too surprising. That person only cared about exercising and nothing else.

“I did knock, though.”

Shrugging, the man opened the door, letting the stale air inside the gym hit his face.

The air, mixed with a peculiar heat, greeted his face as he entered. It didn’t take long for him to spot the person he was looking for.

Though the gym was quite spacious, it wasn’t large enough to miss someone standing right in the middle of it.

As the man slowly approached the figure with a frown on his face—

“…Huh?”

He halted as he noticed something he hadn’t initially registered in his distraction.

The person he was looking for—

Yuki—was standing there awkwardly frozen. But in front of her, a woman, halfway through trying to stand up, was now stuck in an awkward position.

It was a face the man recognized well.

The star of a recently booming streaming channel, Joanie.

…No way, had she forgotten their promise and scheduled something new?

“Hey, you—”

The man took a step forward, feeling his irritation rise, but for some reason, Yuki stiffened awkwardly at his approach.

Normally, she’d shamelessly ask, ‘Why are you here?’

Could it be that she knew she’d done something wrong?

But judging by her lack of guilt, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Despite the odd vibe, the man continued to stride toward Yuki.

And with every step, Yuki’s posture became more rigid and uncomfortable.

“…Why are you here?”

The words were exactly what the man had expected, but her voice was so stiff it couldn’t have been more unnatural.

“What’s that behind your back?”

“…Nothing.”

“I told you before—you’re terrible at acting, so don’t even bother lying.”

If she had responded naturally, he might’ve just let it slide.

But her attempt to hide something was so obvious that ignoring it was impossible.

At this point, it was practically a cry for attention.

“Are you hiding a corpse or something?”

“What?”

“I mean, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility with you.”

…Or not.

Avoiding the man’s sharp gaze, Yuki subtly turned her head.

It was clear she was hiding something.

As the man narrowed his eyes, he caught a glimpse of something pink moving in the small gap Yuki hadn’t fully concealed.

“…Pink?”

Flinch!

Yuki reacted with unprecedented intensity.

“Pink? What are you even talking about? I have no idea what you mean.”

“…You’re seriously the worst at acting.”

If she was going to be this bad at it, she might as well have stayed silent.

While the man stared at her in exasperation—

A small sigh unexpectedly broke the silence.

“Ah, of course.”

“…Huh?”

At the sound of a soft, delicate voice accompanying the sigh, the man widened his eyes.

It was a voice that felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

A strong sense of déjà vu echoed in his mind.

But he didn’t have time to ponder the source of the feeling.

“Move aside.”

Because before he could, the owner of the delicate voice emerged from behind Yuki’s back.

A figure slowly came into view.

The first thing he saw was pink hair softly swaying beneath Yuki’s legs.

Then came a small frame that explained why she had been hidden behind Yuki.

No matter how generously you looked at it, the figure couldn’t pass as an adult.

Naturally assuming it was a child, the man shifted his gaze upward slightly.

And he found himself staring into a pair of vibrant pink eyes, sparkling like gemstones.

“…What?”

At that moment, all the man could utter was a single strangled sound, like the last gasp of a dying person.

***

Shin Da-eun, who had been in an awkward half-standing, half-sitting position, finally sat down on the floor.

After seeing the man frozen in shock, Yuki forcefully made him sit down as well. Only then did he manage to open his mouth.

“…Is this a hidden camera prank?”

His voice was dripping with suspicion and doubt.

A perfectly normal reaction.

“Da-eun was like that too.”

Of course, Da-eun had reacted a bit more dramatically, but the overall response wasn’t too different.

“I—I never made such a stupid face!”

“Wow. Did you just call him stupid to his face?”

“…Ah, no… That’s not what I meant….”

Realizing her slip after hearing me, Da-eun started glancing nervously at the man.

It wasn’t unreasonable to think he might take offense at being called “stupid.”

But the man, who had just been called out by Da-eun, didn’t seem to care about the remark at all.

“So, are you okay with this? Showing yourself like this?”

“It’ll work out somehow.”

If I had wanted, I could’ve hidden myself and escaped without being seen.

But seeing how Yuki was talking to him, they seemed to know each other, so I didn’t feel the need to.

Besides, anyone who knew about the gym Yuki owned and could casually drop by probably wasn’t a bad person.

“What if something went wrong?”

“Well…”

“…Well, what?”

“….”

“…Hey, Canaria? You’re not thinking something terrifying, are you? Like slicing and dicing or something…?”

I ignored Da-eun’s whispered words in my ear.

There was something else that bothered me more.

‘Why does he seem familiar?’

He looked so familiar.

It wasn’t the face that seemed familiar, though. Still, for some reason, I felt like I’d known him for a long time.

As if we’d crossed paths several times before.

“…!”

Ah, I get it now.

After racking my brain, I clapped my hands in realization.

“He’s the one who used to bother me.”

He’s the guy who kept visiting me when I was living in the mountains.

He was also there when the knights came.

Finally, it made sense why his face felt unfamiliar.

Back then, because of the tricks Edel was pulling, it was hard to sense faces or presences unless I focused intently.

But even then, my instincts had picked up on him, allowing me to recognize him now.

“…Huh?!”

The man, who had been standing there dumbfounded, suddenly jumped in shock as if he’d heard something completely unexpected.

“W-What? What are you talking about?! When did I ever bother you?!”

The man, clearly flustered, stammered over his words.

Clank.

Da-eun, like a rusty jointed doll, slowly turned her head toward him.

“…Bothered her?”

Her voice, which finally escaped her lips, was so ominous it even made me flinch for a moment.

…Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

The thought crossed my mind briefly, but I quickly shook my head.

It’s true that he kept bothering me when I was living peacefully.

So, it’s not like I did anything wrong.

Yeah, that’s right.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

—

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